Bettysday in Philadelphia

Betty Magdalen's

Bettysday report from Philadelphia:

Betty JoDee, who lives in the middle of Pennsylvania (more or less), took the train into Philadelphia’s 30th Street Station, where Betty Ross and I met her. As promised, she was the only one wearing a hat, which made her very easy to spot. We were joined in short order by Betty Henry, whose honorary Betty status was made official in the course of the day -- while he’s not read any of The Canon, he knows a lot about Bettysworld and is thus a very useful source to all of us; for example, he was able to explain why Max van Oostervelde had to buy an entire extra car just to get the MVO 1939 license plate: in those days, you were allowed to transfer a license plate from one car to another provided you owned both cars at the time.
We ordered the “Social Tea” at The Four Seasons because none of us wanted (or needed) the “complimentary” raspberry cocktail or sherry that comes with the “Royal Tea.” (The lawyers at the table forbore discussing the meaning of “complimentary” when all the food is precisely the same in the Royal Tea as in the Social Tea but the price is higher.) At The Four Seasons, you do not merely select your tea, you are presented with a box containing the various teas in individual corked vials so that you can sniff each tea in advance. (We all had black tea: Betty Henry had the Acai Pomegranate, Betty Ross had the Pear Caramel, and Betty JoDee and I had the Brazilian Fruits.)

Here we are, midway through the Social Tea: the finger sandwiches had been Hoovered up delicately consumed and The Four Seasons’ equivalent of Mr. & Mrs. Jolly had removed the plate at the top of the stand. We’re about to attack enjoy the scones on the middle plate. From the left, Bettys Henry, Ross, Magdalen and JoDee. Unfortunately, the individual tea cozies make it impossible to see the bottom plate loaded with miniature fruit tarts, shortbread, and tiny chocolate-peanut butter pastries topped with wee swirls of meringue.
There was a pianist accompanying our tea party. Mostly he played standards like “Begin the Beguine” and “Tea for Two” but clearly one of the other parties present was celebrating because the final number was “Happy Birthday.” We all clapped enthusiastically for this musical salute to Betty’s 100th.
Uncrushable Jersey Dresses were worn in Betty’s honor. Betty JoDee’s is grey, a very Betty color! Note, also, the red gloves. Very chic; they were probably displayed with a single silk scarf on a delicate gilt chair in the window of a dress shop in Den Haag...

Betty Magdalen in Betty Henry’s walled garden. I believe this dress would have been described (after “uncrushable” and “jersey”) as being “in a useful navy print.”

I designed two t-shirts for Bettysday. (My apologies for the unfortunate use of my bosom as a billboard for Bettysday, but perhaps I can get away with saying I have “satisfactory” curves.) (Oh, and I would like formally to submit them -- my t-shirts, not my curves -- for the prize, please.)

Betty Neels:
1910 - Born in Devon, England
1930s - Trains as a nurse & midwife
1940s - Serves in WWII, marries Dutch patriot
1950s - Works as a nurse in Holland
1960s - Retires from nursing; writes first romance novel
1970s-90s - Writes 133 more romance novels
2001 - Dies peacefully in hospital
Bettysday 9 - 15 - 2010

Betty Neels was 59 when
she wrote her first romance novel.
I still have time
Bettysday
9/15/10

Bettys JoDee and Henry co-solved Betty Ross’s special crossword puzzle at dinner (at an appropriately named restaurant: The Ugly American). And, in the most Betty Neels-ish gesture of the day, Betty JoDee actually helped Bettys Ross and Henry move furniture. (Betty Henry was getting a new -- and deliciously elegant -- chaise lounge delivered Thursday morning, which meant the loveseat in its place had to go upstairs. While the men did the actual lifting & carrying, it was Betty JoDee who knew what to do. Deceptively delicate, our Betty JoDee is appropriately capable!)
We ate breakfast at The Morning Glory diner in South Philadelphia. Alas, the pancakes with mango & dried cherries and the various frittatas are rather outside the spectrum of food in The Canon, but they were generous portions and the company was all that any Neels protagonist could wish. In fact, over the two days Betty JoDee and I talked so much about The Canon that I will be doing an entire Promantica post about our conversations. We agreed: talking about individual Neels romances is like playing Barbies.
It was a perfect Bettysday: delectable food, good company, beautiful settings (thanks to Betty Henry for putting us up overnight), and best of all, a worthy honoree.

Betty JoDee also sent us an email about Bettysday in Philadelphia:

Hi,
Just a couple things to add (I'll put them in as comments, Founding Bettys, if you wish):

Betty Ross and Betty Henry are just darling. I immediately appropriated Betty Ross for myself as an indulgent brother, and Betty Henry is the living personification of a father of a Neels heroine--utterly charming in an absent-minded way. Despite her protestations to the contrary, it is no great mystery how Betty Magdalen snagged them. She possesses a rapier wit, an infectious laugh, graceful movements, classic features, and porcelain skin. I guarantee that she has left a legion of besotted Englishmen in her wake. (She also drives exactly as an RDD in traffic--no fuss, appropriately fast, and can converse effortlessly the entire time.)

I might add, in case you can't tell from the photos, that her uncrushable jersey dress was a fetching navy-and-white print with accents of hot (oh, no--not Neels)--shocking (nope, saved for the Veronicas)--bright (ah, that's better) pink matched with navy court shoes with a buckle.

Thank you, Founding Bettys, for providing the inspiration for such a delightful adventure of meeting new friends.

Betty JoDee

And now a rebuttal from Betty Magdalen:

Betty JoDee is too too kind - - and is this close to getting me to retaliate by listing all of her myriad charms (starting with the beautiful hair and ability to wear jewelry unselfconsciously and running all the way through to her possession of a first-rate mind and the effortless ability to keep the conversational ball not only in the air but appearing to be weightless). But I resist the urge because knowing her, she'll start to argue with me about just one item on the list and as that list includes "innate ability to find the sole flaw in my argument while maintaining her exquisite manners" I don't dare.

Betty Magdalen